Best Questions to Ask on a Coffee Chat?
I’ve already gone through the recruiting process and received an offer at a solid MM bank starting this summer. Currently trying to get tips on how to get the return offer. I know it is largely based on your work ethic, attitude, and willingness to learn. I also know that networking during your internship and getting to know your colleagues well/going on coffee chats is important. What are some of the best questions you have been asked by summer analysts during networking? Specifically, what makes a summer analyst stand out in coffee chats over someone else? Thanks!
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The answer to this is that there is no cookie-cutter question to ask. You can't build an authentic relationship just by using canned lines. Instead, I'd do extensive background research on the person I'm meeting with, and ask tailored, personalized question. Eg if the person went to a non-target, ask them about the difficulties they faced and let them talk about their success story. If the person lived in the same city, or were in the same frat, or went to the same high school or college as you, I'd ask them about that. If you really can't find anything in common, I'd dig the Internet to find about a recent deal/case/project they have been working on, and try to work my way from there.
I agree about not having a list of structured questions to ask. During networking I always ask about their career trajectory/how they ended up in banking/college experience. I then try to connect what they say to my own experiences to from more of a bond/mutual interest. I guess I’m just wondering what types of questions to ask besides the basic what do you like about your job, what is the day to day like, was there anything that surprised you about working in IB, why did you join your group specifically, etc.
My coffee chat strategy is to research the person I'm meeting with. LinkedIn (LinkedIn summary sometimes tells you a great lot about their interests), Facebook, any website that had indicated they participated in a sport, recent deal/case/project their team is working on. I normally begin the coffee chat talking about their work, general tips etc, and when the time is appropriate, segue into their background/story. Depends on how the convo goes, I'd either keep focusing on their story, or switch the topic to a mutual interest. If I know their interest beforehand, everything is easy and I just steer the conversation towards that direction. Otherwise, I just guess based on the clues sprinkled here and there, as well as the lingo they used. E.g. if someone uses the phrase "drop the ball", "throw in the towel" or "hit a home run", then I will think they watch NRL, boxing or baseball. One time during a conversation on European cuisine, I talked about whether to include Turkey in Europe, and the guy used the phrase Asia Minor, which I immediately took as an indication that he was a fan of Greco-Roman history. After the conversation on food died, I instantly switched to history and boom we had an enjoyable conversation on Byzantine emperors. In short, I try to pay attention to every single word that comes out of their mouth and pinpoint their interest, and then make the convo a mix of work + story/mutual interests.
Asking someone who went to what you might view as a ‘non-target’ about their difficulties getting their job may not play out how you’d hope.. “so I see you went to [state school], how’d you pull off getting this job?”
A lot of the times, the non-target question actually works wonders for me. At the very least, the question does not sabotage existing progress. Would you mind sharing how the question backfired on you? Just wanting to get more perspective and listening to your story.
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I've got 3 go to questions that are must asks!
1. What is your current stance on abortion?
2. Would you have supported the confederates during the civil war? (If they answer no, press them on why not)
3. How many women does the average man in the office sleep with monthly?
With those 3 you should get every interview you want.
1) Why did you choose IB, I'm still on the fence?
2) What do you do everyday?
3) What does EBITDA mean?
I am a mentor and VP at a boutique firm, and this is a topic I often discuss with my mentees about.
You are correct to assume that having a good relationship with your colleagues goes a long way towards getting that return offer (and afterwards, a pleasant work environment). Coffee chats is just one of many tools/occasions to interact with them.
Here's what you need to know:
(1) People talk. Every person you have coffee chats with will talk a friend in the office. At the end of the internship more often than not, people will ask around if anybody has additional inputs on this intern/candidate. You want enough and the right people to be saying good things about you.
(2) You don't know much, and you are not expected to. You will make a good impression if you ask questions that show curiosity about the job, but more importantly about the person! Finance is a relationship-based industry.
(3) So, ask questions about the person you are having coffee with AND MAKE IT ABOUT THEM. How did you get started in the industry? How did they come to this job? What do they like about it? are all reasonable starting points.
(4) Find common ground. You can even do this before you go out to coffee - try to target people who have at least one thing in common with you, the more trivial, the better. School, field of study is okay - you get points for trying but if you happen to went to the same high school/know the same person, etc. Anything you noticed from their office/cubicle?
(5) Point 4 is so important I need to re-iterate again. If you succeed in 4, subconsciously it shows you have attention-to-detail and is a team player.
(6) You will fail. You won't have a common ground with everyone. But don't let discourage you. Because...
(7) All you need is just a handful of people to like you or one to like you very much. When I was an intern, I walked by an MD's office and saw a chess set. I am a competitive chess player so I just walked in and said hi. Not only did he vouch for me for a return offer, he also made an effort to be my mentor once I started full-time.
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